The 14-year-veteran of the Danville Town Council and an owner of an architectural firm spent the weekend at the California Democratic Party convention in Sacramento talking with party leaders — Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, DeSaulnier and Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch — about his prospects and came away enthused.

It was his wife who told him he ought to run for the Legislature, he said. Janis teaches school in Orinda and she urged him to try and help fix a dysfunctional state budgeting process mired in partisan muck.

The Legislature’s failure to solve the state’s fiscal problems incrementally in prior years has led to massive and nearly unmanageable deficits that are pushing businesses out of California and hurting education, he said.

“I believe the opportunity for change is over the next 24 months and the voters are looking for it,” Arnerich said. ”

Arnerich is the first declared candidate for the District 7 Senate seat, should it become open.

Former Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla of Pittsburg is also looking at the race and Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, may well have an interest in the Senate post if she is unsuccessful in her 10th Congressional District campaign.

“We are working together with the Governor to make 2009 the year that we get a major series of water agreements done in California. We have already convened bipartisan and bicameral legislative meetings with the goal of having a comprehensive fix to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta on the table this legislative session, along with funding for water supply reliability and infrastructure investments.

The Governor has sounded the siren on this issue for a number of years and we’re prepared to work together to get it done. We have legislative engagement from Democrats and Republicans, from Senators and Assembly Members alike. And we will break the logjam on water resources in this state and solve the issues once and for all.”

As state senators prepare to go into a budget session this afternoon — one that that will turn into a slumber party unless at least one Republican votes for the budget — Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, sent out a gloomy e-mail alert.

From the sounds of it, he will need a sleeping bag, a toothbrush and, dare we suggest, earplugs.

Here is DeSaulnier’s alert:

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

Since the afternoon of Valentine’s Day and through the President’s Weekend holiday, my Senate colleagues and I have been on the Senate floor debating the best way to move our state forward. Over the last 5 months we have seen what can, without dramatics, be called the implosion of our national financial markets, the collapse of the American Dream of homeownership and the strife of precipitous middle and working-class job losses.

As the leading state in the nation, California must turn itself around and begin to work toward financial solvency. The road to economic recovery begins TODAY with this budget vote. As we speak, 276 more crucial infrastructure investments are being shut down. TODAY, The Governor has called for layoffs of 10,000 Californians.Read the rest of this entry »

Freshman state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, has snagged a seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee, the choke point for almost every piece of legislation to move through the legislative house.

He will also serve as chairman of Labor and Industrial Relations Committee and the State Administration, General Government & Judicial Budget Sub-Committee.

In addition, he was named vice chairman of the Elections, Reapportionment & Constitutional Amendments Committee and will sit as a member of the Health Committee and the Transportation and Housing Committee.

Read more for the full committee assignment list released this afternoon from state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg’s office: Read the rest of this entry »